Consumption and Economic Security

A Two-Stage Conceptualization of Sustainable Homeownership in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID12438416
AuthorsChunhui Ren (0000-0003-1973-6213, Lingnan University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume60
Issue4
Pages1162-1190
Publication date2024-01-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Affairs Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1078-0874 • E-ISSN: 1552-8332
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/10780874231223113
OpenAlexW4390746915
LanguageEN
References cited67

In the present study, we propose a novel conceptualization of homeownership in the United States as a special commodity, whose consumption involves a two-stage process: homeownership entry wherein the ability to consume is pivotal, and homeownership retention wherein the outcome rests on economic security. Based on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we test this conceptualization with consumption ability being proxied by income and economic security by liquid wealth. Three hypotheses are verified: (1) income predicts first-time renters’ chance of becoming homeowners but has weakened influence on homeownership retention; (2) liquid wealth constitutes the central determinant for first-time homeowners’ ability to avoid going back to renting; and (3) nonliquid wealth fails to exhibit a significant impact on either homeownership stage. By revealing the two separate stages of different homeownership dynamics, this study is the first to systematically explore the built-in contradiction of capitalist housing markets. Policy implications are also discussed

Commodity · Conceptualization · Consumption (sociology · Contradiction · Demographic economics · Economics · Labour economics · Market economy · Panel Study of Income Dynamics · Political science · Renting · Sociology · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Housing Market and Economics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism

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